(1)
For most children, the concept of a “deity” was still very vague, especially when that symbol manifested in reality as a person.
So, to them, the one sitting here now was more like an older sister in gorgeous clothes.
Yu Tongshen had slipped in earlier during the commotion. Now he sat cross-legged by An Jing’s leg, calling out “Goddess Sister” with every bite.
Zhu Ying glanced sideways at the somewhat flustered An Jing, pressed her hand down, and helped by saying, “Alright, alright, everyone, quiet down. If you all chatter like this, the Lord Deity won’t be able to talk with you.”
An Jing smiled and nodded—the slight awkwardness hidden in that smile was something only Zhu Ying could detect.
“Right, don’t be too noisy. Be careful—the Lord Deity might get angry and make you wet the bed every night.”
“Brother Stone, weren’t you the one who wet the bed just last year?”
“That, that wasn’t wetting the bed, uh…” The boy closest to adulthood among the children scratched his head awkwardly. “You, you wouldn’t understand.”
A little girl asked innocently, “Brother Stone, if it wasn’t wetting the bed, what was it? We all saw your bedsheet hanging out to dry.”
“I, I’ll… tell you when you’re older…”
“Ahem…” An Jing suppressed a laugh and cleared her throat. “That’s right, you’ll know when you’re older~”
“G, Goddess!”
“What’s your name? Stone?”
“I’m Yu Shanshi. Everyone calls me Stone.” Yu Shanshi rubbed his cheek sheepishly. “Last year I also played the Mortal Spokesperson. That…”
“Everyone says Brother Stone is the most handsome Mortal Spokesperson!”
“I just… even with makeup I can’t look like a girl. After all, my face… is more angular.”
“Pfft.” Zhu Ying beside him was probably imagining what this very handsome youth would look like in women’s clothing, and couldn’t help laughing out loud.
He was striking, tall, with a square face that had sharp angles—indeed not the type suited to dress as a girl.
‘Probably just drew the short straw.’
An Jing used her jeweled crown to block Zhu Ying’s laughing face and looked at Yu Shanshi. “How are things outside lately?”
“It’s chaotic. There’s fighting everywhere. By the coast it’s not so bad, but it’s still full of foreigners. My uncles and I have gone out a few times. We don’t dare take the small paths—there are bandits on them. So we have to take the main roads, but those have tolls, and you need a Travel Pass…”
An Jing had passed her history class, but that was only junior high history. Even combined with some historical content she’d read in extracurricular books, she couldn’t clearly remember exactly what had happened back then—like whether the Japanese had made it to Z Province by 1939. She had no idea.
“Is there war in the province?”
“Yes. In the 26th year of the Republic of China, they came in and took a lot of land. But we also have other foreigners here, so they didn’t take everything. Because of those other foreigners, they keep each other in check, so it’s not as big a deal here as elsewhere. At least we still have a bit to eat. I heard some provinces have already starved many people to death…”
The follow-up questions weren’t really related to unraveling the dream anymore, but An Jing couldn’t help asking, “What about us… the people on the island? Were any of them killed?”
“Yes, some were killed by the Nationalist Army, some by the Japanese Invaders. You have to be careful once you leave the island. Can’t wander around, can’t talk recklessly… There’s not much worth taking here, so the island is still safe. A lot of people outside are hurrying back, trying to take refuge.”
“Oh… then what do you worship for?”
“We hope the Lord Deity will give us favorable weather!” A child answered eagerly. An Jing looked down and saw it was Yu Tongshen sitting by her leg.
“Because more people have come back, and everyone has to eat, drink, and relieve themselves on the island. It’s not like before, when people could work outside and bring back some money to help out. So… we hope this year will have good weather and a bountiful harvest, so we can get through the coming winter.”
Yu Shanshi looked at An Jing with some hope. “Goddess, since you’ve appeared in person, does that mean… you’ll definitely grant us favorable weather? There won’t be any trouble from now on… right?”
An Jing wanted to say some comforting words, but in the end, for some reason, she couldn’t get them out. She sighed, looked seriously at this youth who was probably older than her own grandfather, and said softly, “What if I told you I’m not a deity at all?”
“How could that be…”
“That’s right! The adults can’t see her!”
“If she were a ghost, she couldn’t appear in the main hall, right?”
“Right, right!”
The children clamored. An Jing had to rephrase. “Then what if I said that deities are not all-powerful?”
“Deities… can’t they do anything?”
“Even if there are deities who can do everything, not all gods in the world are the same. Big gods and small gods can do completely different things, right?”
“So you mean Lord Anhai Deity can’t actually give us favorable weather?”
“You have to rely on your own strength. You can’t beg for the gods’ pity.” An Jing finally said what she wanted to say. “Be fully prepared…”
“Xiao Jing, I don’t think you need to say that,” Zhu Ying lowered her voice. “To them, this is probably just a ritual to seek comfort and blessings for the future. The people on this land obviously don’t put all their hopes on some vague deity.”
“Uh…”
“Sometimes, I feel Xiao Jing is still too arrogant. What you can think of, others can think of too. Or maybe~ Xiao Jing actually likes lecturing?”
“N, no, it’s not like that…” An Jing replied quietly, a little embarrassed. Then she straightened up, cleared her throat, and said, “By the way, tell me about the recent things on the island. Anything’s fine, just talk.” The approachable “goddess” started chatting with the children. At first, the topics were somewhat serious, but gradually they became more and more homely.
Some children even started talking about their troubles with bedwetting lately, and another made a wish on the spot, saying they wanted to eat delicious snacks.
An Jing tried to conjure food in the dream, but unfortunately, she failed. That made her sigh inwardly—
‘Even in a dream, superpowers aren’t some all-powerful wish machine.’
(2)
The deity’s evening banquet was exceptionally lavish—at least from the perspective of that era.
In fact, for An Jing and Zhu Ying, what they saw were ordinary home-cooked dishes they ate every day.
But the children were already drooling. Clearly, they never got to eat this well in daily life.
Even on a fishing island village, fish and meat weren’t freely available, let alone pork, mutton, or beef.
The adults brought up the long table. As the “goddess,” An Jing sat at a table with the children—probably the first time these kids had ever been at the main table. The adults, who usually sat at the main table, were now scattered at other square tables.
Though it wasn’t yet night, the sky was overcast, with no trace of evening glow at all.
The adults looked complicated—some joyful, some worried, forcing calm through unease and pretending tranquility through confusion.
Someone suggested that the adults should go toast the goddess, but the Old Priest stopped them.
—He said that since She preferred to be with the children, they shouldn’t disturb Her. Perhaps the goddess didn’t like the scent of adults tainted by the mortal world.
“Aiy, there’s going to be a typhoon today.”
“Based on my years of fishing experience, a typhoon will definitely hit today.”
“With the Lord Deity stationed here, nothing bad should happen this time, right?”
“Since the goddess has come, we can rest assured.”
“Maybe that’s exactly why She came.”
“It seems the goddess still has pity on us…”
(3)
Everyone happily ate the banquet. Many carefree children, even at the same table as An Jing, wolfed down their food, scattering grains of rice on the table and then quickly scooping them up again.
But Yu Tongshen alone seemed to have no appetite.
An Jing looked at the little boy beside her and couldn’t help asking, “Grandf… Yu Tongshen, you don’t have an appetite?”
“A little… I can’t eat.”
“Something on your mind?”
“Mm…” Yu Tongshen fidgeted with the chopsticks in his hand, hesitantly biting his lip. Finally, he lifted his dark little face and looked at her with his narrow eyes. “Uh, I had a nightmare.”
“What kind of nightmare?”
“I dreamed that something on the island would be destroyed by a huge monster. Huge, as big as a mountain.” Yu Tongshen gestured dramatically.
“In the future?”
“Yeah, in the future… but I don’t know when. Oh, and when they come, they bring… really, really, really tall waves.”
“Waves?”
“Yeah! Waves taller than mountains!” Yu Tongshen nodded hard.
An Jing and Zhu Ying exchanged a glance. Just as they were about to say something, a fierce wind suddenly began to blow.
The dark clouds pressed low, making the air feel heavy.
A little girl was blown down by the wind, and the ceramic bowl in her hands shattered on the ground.
“The typhoon is here!”
No one knew who shouted.
The adults looked uneasy, but the children weren’t panicked.
They all turned in unison toward An Jing.
A middle-aged man stared dry-mouthed at the distant sea surface—or rather, it was no longer an ordinary sea surface. It was a wall of water made of the ocean itself.
Others followed his gaze. Now even the children, who were usually used to typhoons and even excited by them, became frantic.
“A tsunami… it’s a tsunami… I saw one once when I was young.” The Old Priest licked his lips, his voice trembling. “That was truly… a disaster…”
“Tsunami?” An Jing slowly closed her eyes, recalling some details from stories her grandfather had told her—
She remembered. Her grandfather said he had witnessed it with his own eyes—
The Anhai Deity flew into the sky, her whole body radiating dazzling golden light, like a sun.
And then, just as that wall-like tsunami was about to swallow everyone, her tightly shut golden eyes suddenly flew open, and the blinding light made everyone shut their eyes.
But he forced his eyes open despite the pain of tears.
Then he saw the surging tsunami being pushed back by an invisible force…
“Psychic Tsunami Reversal…?” An Jing took a deep breath, slowly closed her eyes, and then, amid the children’s cries of surprise, floated up into the sky…